Drug abuse is a sensitive subject to deal with as it always relates to health, well-being and even lives of human beings belonging to any country. Many people are against mandatory drug testing because they see it as a violation of the Constitution. Having the right to reject unnecessary checking and searches is the Fourth Amendment in the American constitution, otherwise known as a person's right to privacy. However, company employers have to ensure the quality of the employees and the safety for all members. They have the right to know whether or not the people working under them are stable to do their jobs.
Allowing drug testing has triggered quite a rampage. Supporters of the argument claim that employers have every right to expect their workers to be sober on the job, especially when safety and security are on the line. On the other hand, the opposing team, argue that testing positive may not necessarily mean that the employee was intoxicated while working. All it proves is that they are likely to put a buzz on, someplace, sometime. So they all mean that randomly drug testing may interfere the employee`s personal life which is not really necessary to maintain his/her job safely. This kind of behavior may result to unhealthy relationship between the employers and employees.
However, drug addiction is a serious and difficult illness which many people do not become aware of until it is too late. People who do drugs have many things they share in common though the reasons might defer. A very common characteristic is unreliability; which can be seen when diagnosing someone with a drug addiction problem, and depression. Drug users suffer a state that degrades a person's state of life and causes a loss of interest in...
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...fere with employee’s private life; however, having it is a necessity for the safety of the job. Employers have rights to check up their employees because drug consumption is widely distributed and has many negative effects on people`s daily life which work is one of them. It is only logical that they have the right to know whether or not their employees are capable of doing something that could hurt their company or the people who use their services, or whether they just wouldn't be productive enough to produce an acceptable quality of work. Sometimes we can do things which we do not prefer but because of the importance of situations may force ourselves to do them.
Works Cited
Danny, Michael. Drug Warriors. London: London press,2009.
Terry, Steve. Employments Drug. New York: Macmillan,2007.
Wilson, John. Against To The Drug Addiction. Los Angeles: Penguin,2005.
Job skills and training can even be investigated by the employer. The employee is to perform services and these services must be done in a certain manner. Someone who is incoherent because of drug abuse cannot be a pilot for example. This is why employers can test to see if characteristics or tendencies would affect performance. An employee may not want to give a urine or blood sample. The employee may not want to include all of their references but this is besides the fact that an employer is entitled to them. More and more employers are starting to feel this way. "A 1996 survey by the American Management Association found 81 percent of major U.S. companies had drug-testing programs at that time compared with 78 percent in 1995 and just 22 percent in 1987." (May 2) The employer has a right to only certain information and the line must also be drawn in the procedure to obtain the information.
...ult, and some times it does not give a result at all. It is unfair because it only targets certain workers; mainly low wage employees. It is unjust because people are automatically accused of using drugs, and that is why the drug test is given. Drug testing should not be abolished, but it should be a more controlled issue since it is something everyone in the US must go through.
In an effort to make drug testing for employees of the federal government more accurate, to deter false positives and false negatives it has been suggested to use alternative methods of testing. The Associated Press reported a movement by the federal government to "overhaul its employee drug testing program". (TAP, pg 1) Currently, the government tests its employees during the pre-employment selection and when accidents
Many people associate inappropriate drug use with loss of responsibility. The user does not show up on time for work, or if they do they may not be able to work to the best of their ability since they are under the
Legal Challenges. When discussing the use of drug testing at the work place for pre-employment screening or on the job testing, we must consider the legal and ethical implications. Those who are in favor of drug testing claim that the testing itself acts as a deterrent in the use of illegal drugs and will also detect the use of illegal drugs which could impair employees resulting in injuries, accidents, lost productivity and ultimately liability concerns. Those in favor also refer to federal laws such as the Controlled Substances Act and take a zero tolerance approach to their employment policy. On the other hand those who argue against drug testing claim ethical violations of privacy and in some cases seek protection under state and federal laws such as the Americans with Disabilities Act, not always successfully. In the case of Raytheon v. Hernandez, the employee sought protection under the Americans with Disabilities Act which “prohibits discrimination against individuals with a drug addiction, although it permits an employer to act against an employer because of current drug abuse” (Witlin 2004). There is also a trend in the United States for the decriminalization of marijuana for personal and/or medical use which creates conflicts for employers. Employers have the responsibility to interpret both federal and state laws when determining their stance and policies when it comes to drug testing at the work place.
The first thing we will look at is what drug abuse is. Drug abuse is a condition that results when a person ingests a substance, such as cocaine, or heroin, that can cause pleasure, but the continued use of which becomes compulsive and will start interfering with everyday life, such as school, work, parenting responsibilities, or relationships. Addicts are not generally aware that their own behavior is out of control and are usually oblivious to the problems that they are causing to themselves and to others.(“What is Addiction?” 2014) The longer the addiction and addictive behaviors persist, the worse the person will become, and the more dependent they will become on the drug. The reason it is so hard for an addict to change their ways is because the brain’s chemistry is altered from addiction.
In today’s society, everybody is encountered with drugs at least once. The reason for this is due to family, friends, or references in the media. Teenagers are often influenced by their peers to do drugs, and they need to be tested at their schools to prevent adolescents from partaking in this activity because the number of their peers will diminish. However, there are people who believe that testing students is against their constitutional rights. On the other hand, there are those who believe that it needs to be done to protect adolescents from using illegal drugs. Drug testing needs to take place in schools to protect all students from the physical and emotional toll on the body.
An example of an issue with mandatory drug testing was the Vernonia School Dist. 47J v. Acton case. In this case the Vernonia School District, which is located in Oregon, requires any student who wants to participate in activities such as athletics, for example football or basketball, to sign consent forms to allow for random drug testing throughout the particular sports season. One testing is at the beginning of the season and during the season every week the students are placed into a “pool” and 10% of the athletes are chosen for random drug testing. What happened in this case was a student by the name of James Acton wanted to play football for his school but in this school district the student and the par...
In the process of drug testing, there are two possible outcomes, either a negative or a positive one. Most drug testing performed today is accurate and eliminates the possibility of false positives because of the procedures that are closely followed. If the result is positive for drug use, then a more sensitive test is given to make sure it is accurate. The results are reviewed by a trained physician who contacts the employer or company to notify them of drug use by an employee. A complication to the positive result, may be an employee having a legitimate reason for drugs in his or her system. If an employee has a prescription drug prescribed by a doctor, the drug testing will be positive. A second possible outcome of drug testing is a negative result. This means there are no traces of drugs in the sample. The positive or negative outcome of drug testing make or break a worker’s
Walters, John P. "Student Drug Testing Is Necessary." Opposing Viewpoints: Privacy. Ed. Jamuna Carroll. Detroit: Greenhaven Press, 2006. Opposing Viewpoints Resource Center. Gale. University of West Alabama. 16 Mar. 2010 .
Drug abuse in the workplace is a very serious challenge faced by employers. The reason that drug abuse within the workplace is so serious is because it can negatively affect the company itself, the employee that is abusing the drugs, and fellow co-workers within that area. Even though we have not found the answer to completely eliminate drug abuse and bringing drugs into the workplace, drug testing is one of the most effective methods for employers to eliminate the potential harm that employees could bring into the workplace. Many variables are at risk when dealing with drug abuse in the workplace such as the quality and productivity of the goods and services offered by the company, the liability of the company
As drugs such as marijuana continue to legalize, the United States of America jeopardizes the safety of the citizens. Today, people have a construed belief that drugs allow a person to become more intellectual. Because of this distorted view of drugs, both teens and adults are relying on drugs to accomplish their duties such as their jobs. To guarantee the safety of the employees, the government enforces the “General Duty Clause” of the OSH Act of 1970. Under the OSH Act of 1970, companies are responsible in creating a better working environment. As much as employees disagree with drug testing, drug testing helps create a better working environment.
When employees get hired, they get a drug test due to the fact that the drug testing can prove if the person they are hiring is a good person for their business. For an example “Approximately eighty-one percent of companies in the United States administer drug testing to their employees.” Drug testing also proves that people who passes it are clean and responsible people who the company can trust on doing their job well done and showing overall percentage of the US using drug testing (Chodorow). People who cheat on a drug test and gets a job will later ruin their job of getting into accidents during working and or start a fight with the boss or coworkers unknowingly just because they were high on drugs. That is why companies strive to do drug tests every time they hire an employee now due to the fact that they don’t want to be reliable for an employee who isn’t responsible and trustworthy of their time at their company. Which it will affect the company financially once employees gets hurt on their job. An employee who is not a drug abuser can really benefit a company by not causing trouble for themselves getting hurt in the company and also the business not being reliable for anything that is caused by the employee; who was not responsible. Another example is that reports confirm that 80% of those injured in “serious drug related accidents are innocent coworkers.” And after it began requiring accidents drug
The use of drug testing in high schools is a form of ideology, that will combat drug use in teenagers, that is being spread across the American nation. It is also not uncommon to see the supporters of the plan, as it is to see the ones who oppose the testing. Both of the clashing clans can make their case of whether the drug testing is needed or if it is something that needs to dissipate with the morning breeze, but when all has been said and done, the use of teenage drug testing plays an important role in putting a definite ending to early abuse of illegal substances like drugs.
Mandatory drug tests have proven to help teenagers reduce the use of drugs and alcohol in their daily lives. If young people get used to it when they are young, it’s proven that they would have a difficult time trying to loss their addiction to the substance. Helps the person without any criminal chargers but with all the help needed. They even have different types of drug tests to show the time period of when the person might have taken a drug recently.